ESPN's John Clayton reports the Miami Dolphins did not know WR Brandon Marshall would require further surgery on his hip prior to trading two second-round picks for him a month ago. The Dolphins arranged the follow-up surgery after finding out that Marshall's 2009 hip procedure hadn't fixed all of his problem.

Is there more to this story? Did Marshall, Denver or Marshall's doctor know he would need this? I would be a little ticked if any of them knew and kept it quiet. Not that it is a big deal if minor surgery corrects this but you would like to know this going into workouts.

Would Dolphins make same trade for Brandon Marshall again?> Posted by Dave Hyde on May 24, 2010 12:57 PM

Knowing what they know now, would the Dolphins make the exact same trade for Brandon Marshall again?

Just asking. He cost $48 million and two second-round picks. He had a Samsonite of personal issues that made him expendable by Denver in the first place. Now he has a second, minor hip surgery – and a surprise one to the Dolphins, the way Tony Sparano expressed it - in 14 months.

For the past few days, I’ve tried to get a read on what it means. There’s recent Dolphins precedent for making too much of it or too little of it. I’m trying walk the tight rope of not doing either, considering there’s not information just yet.

The given is no injury is the same. But the precedent that says Marshall’s injury won’t matter is Ted Ginn’s foot surgery. Ginn had it before the draft. It was a loud talking point when he couldn’t practice immediately: What, the Dolphins invested a huge draft pick into him and he has a foot issue? Well, everyone knew he did. GM Randy Mueller talked with doctors who said there were no long-term issues. It wasn’t a concern four months before kickoff when he’d heal in six weeks.

The precedent that says the Marshall injury shouldn’t be overlooked is Daunte Culpepper. It was a total knee reconstruction for Culpepper. So, again, it was an entirely different type of injury and much higher level of seriousness. But everyone kept repeating, from coaches to media to Culpepper, how it was a non-issue. Until it became one that sunk Nick Saban’s time here.

Here’s what we know about Marshall’s case:

1. He had hip surgery.2. It wasn’t the hip he had major surgery 14 months ago.3. It was deemed minor this time.4. The Dolphins didn’t know about it being necessary when they made the trade.5. Marshall might or might not be ready for training camp.6. Two hip surgeries in 14 months might or might not signal issues of long-term health questions no matter what he does this season.

Missing these mini-camps and OTA practices are the least of this. As I wrote last week, Marshall rehabilitated through the start of training camp last year in Denver and so didn’t get much practice with new quarterback Kyle Orton last year.

But here are some possible scenarios that might have happened:

1. The medical staff didn't know about this. It rarely works this way, much as fans make it the default explanation. These are smart people. What team doctors do is give odds on issues. With Culpepper and Drew Brees, for instance, the Dolphins doctors and six nationally known doctors gave the same opinion, according to then-team owner H. Wayne Huizenga: Culpepper was given an 80 percent change to return healthy and Drew Brees had a 20 percent. At that point, it's a question of what risk the football staff wants to assume. In that case, the Dolphins played the odds and got played by them. Maybe they were told Marshall has a chance for hip issues. Maybe they were told there was a chance for this hip surgery.

2. Bill Parcells & Co. rushed the decision. They didn't meet with Marshall face-to-face. They struck on the idea, according to Jeff Ireland, on a Sunday and the deal was done by Wednesday. Marshall did have to pass a physical for the deal to be completed. This isn’t the first rodeo for these guys, either. The hip surgery last year was well known. Surely the front office that asked – cheap-shot alert – about Dez Bryant’s mom being a prostitue asked thoroughly about Marshall’s hips. Would it have mattered if they’d taken it more slowly?

3. Marshall knew something was wrong but kept it hidden. The reason is clear: He was approaching a big payday - $24 million guaranteed from the Dolphins - and didn't want to spoil that. Considering the surgery came as the ink was drying on his contract, it’s hard to believe he didn't know something was wrong with his hip unless ...

4. Marshall got hurt working out with the Dolphins. It’s possible. And makes the most sense given the above scenarios. It might strain belief a little, but sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one.

Back to the original question: Would the Dolphins make this exact same trade if they knew Marshall needed surgery and might not be ready for training camp?